Category: Movie Review
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My Top 6 Films of 2023
Just some recommendations for my favourite new releases of last year! Photo by Wyron A on Unsplash 2023 had a few knock-out hits as far as the cinema goes — obviously, people were very excited about the respective releases of Barbie and Oppenheimer, but my top films of the year were a bit different. One thing I do think…
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Raped and Ruined: Themes of Sexual Assault and Reproductive Coercion in Alien (1979)
Theme: Capitalism, Theme: Debt & Money Troubles, Theme: Gender Exploration & Nonconformity, Theme: Horrors & Thrillers, Theme: Misogyny & Sexism, Theme: Monsters & Monsterfucking, Theme: Patriarchy & White Supremacy, Theme: Pregnancy & Reproduction, Theme: Science Fiction Movies & Books, Theme: Sexual Abuse & Rape, Theme: Sexual Health & MidwiferyExploring the underlying anxieties around sexual assault, loss of bodily autonomy, and forced impregnation in Alien (1979). From Merriam-Webster: Rape: unlawful sexual activity and usually sexual intercourse carried out forcibly or under threat of injury against a person’s will or with a person who is beneath a certain age or incapable of valid consent because of…
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Barbie Isn’t Anti-Men — It’s Anti-Toxicity
Patriarchy does damage to us all, and Barbie (2023, dir. Greta Gerwig) clearly depicts that. Via IMDb. We went to see Greta Gerwig’s Barbie at the weekend and I was honestly surprised by how much I engaged with it — it’s a fun, entertaining flick, but where it really took me by surprise is in the three-dimensionality and…
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Yentl: A Trans Man Studying Talmud is Distracted by Gay Thoughts
Yentl (1983, dir. Barbra Streisand) and Yentl the Yeshiva Boy by Isaac Bashevis Singer. Any of us would be distracted from study by Mandy Patinkin. Via IMDb. It’s a sad thing, hearing cisgender people talk about Yentl — especially the short story — and think they understand it, that they’re getting everything from it, while at the same time, they can’t…
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The Wicker Man (1973, dir. Robin Hardy)’s Spit in the Face of Cops and Colonialism
Exploring The Wicker Man’s themes of authority and control on its 50th anniversary. Still from The Wicker Man (1973, dir. Robin Hardy), via FILMGRAB. The Wicker Man (1973, dir. Robin Hardy) is a stalwart classic of the horror genre, and particularly the folk horror subgenre. It was re-released in 4K for its 50th anniversary on…
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Movie Review: Lawn Dogs (1997, dir. John Duigan)
What an interesting fucking film. This review also on Letterboxd. One of the end stills of the film, via IMDb. So like… This is a film from the perspective of a ten-year-old girl who grows up emotionally neglected and isolated in a picture-perfect gated community — having survived a heart transplant, she is in many ways morbid and isolated…
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The Straight Male Gaze on Pretty Male Gays
How does it feel when straight men want to fuck us? A quick little intro — I went ham on this one. I watched A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge and it just gave me a lot of feelings. Warnings throughout this piece for discussion of the film’s gore and violence, the homophobia both in- and…
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M3GAN and a lonely child:
M3GAN (2022) on child neglect and avoiding one’s caregiving responsibilities “She’ll take care of the little things, so you can spend more time doing the things that matter.” Note: spoilers ahead! There are in-depth spoilers for the entire film throughout. M3GAN, directed by Gerald Johnstone and written by Akela Cooper, is a great little horror film — it’s…